That's not what flowers say. This little daisy looks as though she's drinking it in with zest. She was a birthday present from the friend of my younger son. He specified that she must be kept in the sun outdoors, and be watered every day.She withstood last evening's violent wind and rainstorm valiantly, so I guess she's made for life in the wild. The picture was an experiment. I wanted to see how good a closeup I could take. The colored frame was another experiment. I thought the gold colour would highlight the flower's colour, but I'm not sure about that. But that just gives me a chance to experiment some more.I hope you're enjoying the weather, wherever you are.

Two of my students were absent, but the other four and I celebrated the end of their English classes, the lovely sunny day, and St. John the Baptist's Feast Day, which is the Québec equivalent of Canada Day and the U.S. Independance Day. The classes were given at the students' workplace, one of the many huge Desjardins Insurance/Banking buildings, on the South Shore of the St. Lawrence River.One of Québec City's charming sidewalk cafés, across from the Québec/Lévis ferry dock. I was waiting for a taxi, which should have been waiting for me. We have a contract with a taxi company here and in Lévis, but somehow, the dispatchers manage to ignore it!Here's another of my delightful companions; Fripon, Rascal's brother. His eyes are not fluorescent green, but truly are a lovely Shamrock colour. He's waiting for me to resume knitting, so he can try to catch the moving yarn. I've done quite a bit on the fifth square of the Aran Afghan. Only 19 more to go, not counting this one!

I know, I barely put up a new template for my Blog, and I've just changed it again! The template is from Blogger, but the banner is one I bought from the Etsy shop, Art Tea Life, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=40350It was very reasonably priced, and I'm really pleased with it. It's so neat to have a one and only banner.I managed to do some stamping today. Two ATCs for a trade with a member of ATC Artists. The theme is "Pink". Hope to get two done for another ATC Artists trade. That theme is "Artist's Choice."Today's blog is rather flat, due to my visit to the dentist this morning. Next-to-last step for my two implants. More inspired next time, I hope!

Pas de TroisFleur; blurring at top due to see-through pink flowered ribbon.

Faithful followers of this blog, you may remember that in May 2008, I blogged about a knit Afghan I was making. I’d completed 2½ squares.To update you, I did finish the square, then a fourth, at which point I needed another skein of yarn. (pictures are at end of today’s blog) I won’t go into the details, but as I was winding the skein into a more manageable ball, the yarn, evidently unhappy about being wrenched from its cozy figure-8 position, started fighting with me. I’m sure you can guess what happened next; it got irremediably tangled.

I love a challenge, so I started unravelling the tangles. The yarn, however, wasn’t through with me yet. The more I untangled, the more tangled the yarn became. Exhausted, I gave up, somewhere around 1:00am. After several evenings trying to vanquish the evil ball of tangles, I put it out of sight, but not out of mind.

Every once in awhile, I went to peak at The Yarn. It stared balefully back at me. I smiled an evil smile. This was maybe around August. Then, I went to France, started working at Berlitz (not at the same time), and almost forgot about The Yarn, almost being the operative word. I’ll tackle it during my vacation, I promised myself.

True to my word, last evening, I brought the snarling, snaggled Yarn from it’s banishment, and…finally vanquished it! Yes! I’m ready to begin a new square, The Yarn is happy again—I knew it would be—and a pot of tea awaits me.

Below, squares 3 & 4 of the Afghan, instructions published in Knitter's Winter 2000. Square #3 was designed by Marian Tabler, Cincinnati, OH. Meredith Morioka, Garden City KS designed square #4.
Here are squares 1, right, and 2, left. Square #1 is the design of Judy Sumner, Knoxville, TN. Square #2 is from Julie H. Levy of Stuart, FL. The cat is Rascal. He's not knitted, but he often accompanies me as I knit.

My first day of vacation, and I've done one thing on my to-do list! I haven't made any cards or ATCs since I started teaching at Berlitz, and I wanted to get back in the groove during my vacation. So here's my start; two ATCs for a "Black & White" swap in the ATC Artists group.I hope to make some others today.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, I give two classes to a group of Desjardins employees. This means that three other teachers and I take the Québec-Lévis ferry to the South Shore. What a tough life we lead! I almost regret starting my vacation today--almost being the key word. I do enjoy being part of the great group of teachers at Berlitz Québec. Our secretary and manager are an appreciated part of the "family", too.

Below, part of the Québec harbour.Fellow teachers enjoying the sunshine.The Château Frontenac from the ferry.View of the Lévis side.

This isn't the best picture I've ever taken, but it was an experiment, so bear with me. This lovely bouquet of muguet--Lily of the Valley, comes from a friend's garden. She invited me to dinner at her house for a pre-birthday celebration. The food was wonderful, the conversation, too. Thanks Donna!Marc came down from Montréal last Saturday to celebrate my birthday. He took me to Sunday brunch at the Astral Restaurant, which sits atop the Concorde Hotel. It slowly turns, giving one a 360° view of la belle ville de Québec. It was a sunny, clear day, so the view was just as great as the food. No pictures of the view, because I forgot my camera. No comment, please. Afterward, we a walk in the nearby Jardin (garden) de Ste-Jeanne d'Arc. Every kind of flower one could imagine is there, expertly arranged. What a wonderful day! It's great to be 70!Marc left Monday morning, after coffee at my favourite coffee house (below), The Second Cup Café.

About Me

I am an Okie transplanted from endless, rolling plains where snow is a novelty and some approximation of English is spoken, to Québec, where Winter and the month of July are the only two seasons, mountains and forests stop up the view in all directions, and French is the language.